Open call auditions for the lead role will be held in New York City at Telsey & Co. on April 24 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., with check-in beginning at 9 a.m. Tracy hopefuls must be at least 18 years old and are asked to have a headshot/resume and prepare a short portion of "Good Morning Baltimore" to sing a cappella. Auditions will take place at 311 West 43 rd Street (10 th Floor), New York, NY. Email Hairsprayopencall@gmail.com with any questions.

Producers are looking for a budding star who can play the outgoing and unstoppable Turnblad, who loves to dance.

NBC held similar auditions to find Dorothy for last year's "The Wiz Live!," with newcomer Shanice Williams landing the coveted lead spot. The New Jersey native was selected out of hundreds of applicants nationwide. "This is always what I wanted to do. So I guess I'm ready. I'm ready now," the 18-year-old told "Today" in August.

"Hairspray Live!" is the fourth television musical event for NBC, following "The Wiz Live!" in December, "Peter Pan Live!" in 2014 and "The Sound of Music Loive!" in 2013.

"In keeping with our desire to bring the best of Broadway to our live musicals, we’ve assembled the Broadway dream team of Tony Award winners for 'Hairspray Live!'" said Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment when the 2016 choice was announced. "We’re thrilled to have director Kenny Leon, who knocked 'The Wiz Live!' way out of the park, and Jerry Mitchell, the original choreographer of 'Hairspray' and who is the director of two smash hit musicals running on Broadway right now.

"We also have one of the most celebrated Broadway hyphenates, Harvey Fierstein, back writing the adaptation for TV," added Greenblatt. "No one knows 'Hairspray' better than him since he played the role of 'Edna Turnblad' more than a thousand times and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical."

"Hairspray Live!" is based on John Waters’ original 1988 film, starring Ricki Lake, and subsequent musical stage production, which ran on Broadway from 2002 until 2009. A movie version of the musical was released in 2007 starring John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron.